I highly disagree with that.

While most laugh and consider hemi-sync as something not very realistic I find it otherwise. My mind, being hyperactive, has sensory integration problems. At times, so much can happen at once that I succumb to sensory overload and simply lock up and cannot do much but retire for the evening, however, after many nights experimenting with hemi-sync I’ve discovered that not only can I withstand some overload, but handle more load than usual.

What this amounts to is my ability, if desired, to recenter my thoughts and concentrate my energy into any direction I choose. This means I can reprogram myself in little ways, through the subconcious, to adapt to what I deem important or necessary at any time.

For example: I used to have a huge problem with being on time, more so being unprepared for when I arrived to my destination with little time to spare which resulted in great stress. With a little reprogramming I can now rush myself, and in the process gear up my mind to function as it needs be by the time I arrive by simply understanding and focusing what it is I need to get done.

I mention this in my off sighted Astral Projection blog, but I practice it constantly.

I just think that maybe there’s more than one way, and perhaps yours works for you, but that isn’t the all inclusive 100% positive answer.

It’s a very slim shade of grey.

The response to light isn’t a hypothesis or dreamed up cure, but a scientifically researched and studied field in mammals, reptiles, humans and several other animal groups. Circadian components are found in nearly all life forms.

Using a lightbox is also beyond hypothesis(Further than Intelligent Design, let’s say). Enough light over enough time does shift circadian rhythms. Your patterened sleep isn’t a reflection of alarm clock conditioning, but rather a healthy state dictated by circadian rhythms. The alarm clock wouldn’t even be what moved your rhythm back or forward anyways, but the tiredness you felt at the end of the first few days might prompt earlier bed times. More likely to be the influence is just the amount of light you will turn on just to get ready for work. While not a large amount of lux that results in quick circadian changes, it’s enough to skew it over time.

Caffeine is also commonly used to ‘adjust’ circadian rhythms, but again, it does it indirectly. It’s not the ‘perk-up’ that encourages an adjustment as much as the ‘hang-over’ at the end of the day.

Can you adjust your wake and bed times through non-light mechanisms? Yes – Do those methods incur greater side effects over time than light therapy alone? Yes Which is considered to be in greatest keeping with the body clock typically in place? Light

Curiously, using light is what my dwelling led to as a solution. Through light, I can manipulate my body’s perception of time and trick it to run as if I were on days even though I’m on nights (I’ve been using light therapy for about a week with notable improvement)

Reprogramming bio-rhythms encoded millions of years ago just seems a more daunting task than simply using the pre-wired configuration; Light! Also, light is sans drugs and medications, and you can not shift your clock long term with mental focus alone. Mental focus alone, while capable of keeping you awake, does not prevent response time degradation, ability to perform mental tasks degradation and other such measurable exercises.

Lastly, needing or using a lightbox doesn’t dictate the body has a problem. Actually, it might even be a sign of good function.

Your findings don’t surprise me at all. This has been something I feel I’ve understood for quite sometime without the labels and names explaining it to me and how it effects me.

I love the winter time BECAUSE OF the shorter days. The only thing that disrupts my balance is when we lose or gain an hour… This part of life seems the most disruptive, by the time I gain an equillibrium of, “It’s 10pm, I need to be ready for bed by midnight to have a good day.” The hour is dropped off. In order to maintain this equillibrium I have to understand that, “It’s 9pm, I need to be ready for bed by 11pm to have a good day.” Vice versa for when we ’spring’ forward an hour. Over time, I adjust to the differential and come around in full swing. Perhaps its the politicians who make it worse, and not nature or alarm clocks.

Why not take Pavlov’s experiment for example? The alarm clock, overtime, can condition the body of when it needs to sleep, or wake, therefore resetting the circadium rhythm. As long as this feature is not abused, it can provide a gentle recycle into a position where, as long as nothing creates a need for MORE sleep, you can wake without the clock entirely. I’ve heard countless stories of people, including myself, who will wake up at 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10am on their days off without anything to interfere because of their normal work schedule dictating their circadium rhythm. Do you think I use some infernal machine to wake me up on the weekends? Hell no! I figure I’m going to sleep in, right? Wrong. My re-programmed circadian rhythm commands me to awake, not light (lord knows I love dark rooms). Even if I were to hammer down a heavy night of activity I would still be arousing from sleep within a time frame of 8-9 am, where I normally wake up for work at 8am, unless of course I don’t rest until 8 or 9am, in which I throw my own balance off on purpose.

Does this depress me? Never. Does this make my life any less fulfilling? Absolutely not.

Perhaps there’s a form of evolution here not easily recognizable, but I’d think that a lightbox is not going to solve your problems, but merely confuse yourself more.

Better yet, maybe it has something to do with how you are perceiving your sleep needs and regular rhythms. Instead of dwelling on what is understood of how your body works, why not dwell on how you can manipulate your body to work for you by recognizing where it seems to be dragging and focus on fixing it?

No drugs necessary, just a bit of mental focus and plenty of self reflection should get the job done.